4 comments:

I read this the other day - separate from our blog. Great stuff. Especially during political season, when most of the rhetoric is just "ad hominem" attacks on the lower strata and very little "refutation of central points" on the higher strata.

When I was in debate in highschool, I found it was very easy to win an argument by obfuscating the issue with BS. I knew I could never be a politician after that - no stomach for it. I can still see it on TV all the time and it just infuriates me.

Oh, by the way -- if you haven't seen it -- I highly recommend "Thank You for Smoking" which is not really a movie about smoking, but a movie about a guy who makes a living winning arguments from seemingly untenable positions. The character discusses at length how to win any argument and exposes a lot of the ropes and pulleys behind lobbyists, politicians, lawyers, etc. Very funny and entertaining stuff - cleverest film I've seen in a long time.